


Being Run in Circles

by TheOnlyWife



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Clone Shenanigans, Danny is also tired, Just clones being clones, Mr. Lancer is tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyWife/pseuds/TheOnlyWife
Summary: An ordinary day for Mr. Lancer, so it seems. Too bad Danny Fenton, along with people who may or may not be him, have come to ruin that.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Mr. Lancer
Comments: 12
Kudos: 109





	Being Run in Circles

William Lancer had been having a normal day. He woke up at 6:00 am, just as he did every day. He made two cups of coffee - one to drink then and one to put in his silver thermos for lunch when the first one’s effects had worn off.

He drove to Casper High just like normal, if a bit slower because of the early-birds traffic. And he had prepared for class until 7:30 when school officially started. That was also the time when the late students would rush in.

Or, as he’d gotten used to, when Daniel Fenton rushed in, sweating and panting hard. The teacher looked up at the clock from his seat, marking the time right as the student in question ran in.

“Mr. Fenton.” He greeted. Another look at the clock showed that he was, technically, on time. 

“Mr. Lancer.” He greeted back, a bit of sarcasm leaking in.

Will didn’t even have to say anything for Mr. Fenton to take his seat next to his two friends. He also ignored the hushed whispers they shared. He knew it would pass, just as it always did.

He stood up, giving his legs a little stretch. “Today we’ll be discussing Hamlet. I’m sure you all read last night’s chapter.”

A few groans later and some shuffling of backpacks and papers told him that, no, not everyone read it. It would be a long English class, he knew for certain.

* * *

The next class he taught was Algebra. It was one of his favorites, asides from Literature, of course. And he thought it would have been the same, long class period as last time.

He was proven wrong when Mr. Fenton stepped in the door.

Or, more accurately, a look-alike of him stepped in. This person was not Mr. Fenton. At least, Will was sure this wasn’t the same Mr. Fenton who walked into his last class, just as technically on time as before.

This one had his hair styled upwards instead of forwards. His shoulders were more hunched in, though Mr. Lancer thought the boy couldn’t bend that far.

“Mr. Fenton.” He greeted slowly, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Mr. Lancer.” He greeted back, in a slightly higher pitch than the other Danny. The phone in his hands should have been put away, as that was what Mr. Fenton always did before he came into the classroom, but it wasn’t until this other Danny had sat down in his chair that it was stuffed into his pocket. 

Will was already sitting but he felt the need to sit down come over him. Sighing softly he began class. “Today we’ll be talking about factorials and absolute values. Please pull out your books and turn to page 49.”

* * *

“What?” Will whispered to himself, upon seeing another Mr. Fenton look-alike stroll into his class. This one was more muscular, filling out their normal shirt more than usual.

Still, they were late. “Mr. Fenton. Please take your seat.”

They smiled widely, oddly sharp teeth showing. “Sure thing, Mr. Lancer”

Again, the voice was different, this time much lower than usual. If the look on the other students faces was any indication, it wasn’t just Will that noticed it.

Mr. Baxter in particular seemed to fume about it, glaring at the person until they met his glare and gave it back. A silent argument that Will didn’t want himself to be a part of was beginning, so he started class.

“We’ll be using today’s health class to talk about stress management.” he began, just as he’d planned, yet unable to take his eyes off of this Danny, with sharp teeth and a sharper glare any time he turned around.

* * *

Will would have thought he’d get a break from this odd day when walking to the break room. It was only a few doors down, just after Mr. Falluca’s science room. He had planned on heating another cup of coffee in the break room, saving the home-made one in his thermos for later, when he spotted Mr. Fenton yet again, this time in the cafeteria.

Like usual, he was spending his break talking to his friends instead of eating the lunch in front of him. Will sighed, finally given a reprieve from his antics. 

He had almost walked away when Mr. Fenton ducked down to pick up something he dropped, yet he stuck around in shock when a different person with the same clothes on popped his head back up.

His hair was slicked back with gel that most certainly wasn’t there before. His shirt seemed to be ironed out, hardly a wrinkle on it. 

Something was dropped again, prompting him to lean down again, this time appearing again as a shorter and much more feminine version of him. She laughed at something, looked at Will, and smiled, giving a little wave.

William Lancer promptly walked away, seriously needing some coffee at that moment.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by just the same as every other day, if the events he had witnessed were ‘just the same’. He wasn’t even going to talk about the oddness that happened with Mr. Fenton today, let alone ask the student about it. 

The unlucky news was that Mr. Lancer was in charge of detention today. Certainly Mr. Fenton was going to be there - he always was. And just as the first student walked into his classroom it was then he knew that it was not about to be a normal day. 

When five children who all looked like Mr. Fenton walked in and sat down was what led him to that conclusion, to be exact.

He looked at the clock. 2:30. He rubbed his forehead, sighing loudly. Detention let out at 4:30. All he had to do was last until then.

He took another glance at the kids, who’d all sat down, talking to each other.

“I’m telling you,” one of them whispered to another. “Val freaked when she saw me.”

“She flirted with _me_ , though.” the other whispered back, giggling.

“She never does that with me.” the one who Mr. Lancer was sure was Danny Fenton said, sighing. 

On the other side of an empty row of desks, the other two were talking to each other.

“At least he made something that works.” the shortest one of the bunch said, gesturing to his phone.

“No, Dad didn’t make that.” the clean-pressed fourth one said. “Tucker did.”

“What? No way, Dad was bragging about it last night.”

Mr. Lancer didn’t know what was going on, nor did he know these children. At least he didn’t think so. But he was in charge of detention, that was for certain. Even if all they would do was sleep or work on homework, he needed to start somewhere.

“What did you do to be sent to detention today?” he finally asked who he knew for certain was Danny Fenton, though he already knew the answer.

The student’s stopped their conversations to look at him. A few glances in each other’s directions, along with in his direction later, and everyone’s eyes landed on Danny. 

“Sleeping in class.” Danny gave a lopsided smile with a little shrug. “Like usual.”

Lancer directed his attention to the second boy, one who looked almost identical except for much shorter hair styled upwards. The boy had his shoulders hunched in and hands under his desk, most certainly playing on a phone Mr. Lancer would have to take away later.

“Who are you?” he asked, because he most certainly was not Danny Fenton.

“I’m Niel.” the boy said without looking up, in a slightly higher pitch than Danny Fenton. “I got caught graffiting the bathroom walls with big ‘Boo’s to scare off the ghosts.”

“Why would that scare them off?” Lancer mindlessly asked, instead of keeping it to himself.

“The only way to scare a ghost is to be a ghost yourself.” Neil didn’t look up from his phone, but held up his finger like he’d come up with something great. “Or to convince them that something else is already haunting the only bathroom I like.”

“I see.” Lancer replied, feeling just as lost as before. He turned to the second Danny look-a-like. “And who are you?”

“I’m Dabbi.” the slightly taller and more muscular Danny Fenton said, voice toned much deeper for some reason, just like the student who entered his Algebra class. He noticed that they had much more hair than the others, sticking out like a hedgehog, though that was a silly comparison.

“They’re the coolest cause they can kick Dash’s butt.” the third imposter Danny said, crossing his arms and laughing wickedly.

“Which is also why I’m here.” Dabbi’s grin was wide (and missing a front tooth), but it was a proud smile.

Will suddenly realized that those looks Mr. Baxter had sent this student during his class was taken as a challenge, to which it was met with retribution. He would have to make sure Mr. Baxter was unharmed after this detention was over. And he wished it was already.

“My name’s Damien.” the third who spoke earlier interrupted. “Cause I know you were about to ask.”

He had his pitch black hair slicked back with gel, almost to the point of being shiny in the classroom lights. A confident huff of air and a smile in his direction told Will that he was not at all embarrassed to be in detention.

“He’s in here cause he tried to rip a math book apart with his bare hands.” the original Danny Fenton said, head being held up by the palm of his hand with lidded eyes.

“Yeah but he did it.” the fourth chimed in, sounding much different than the others.

“And that’s why he’s here.” Danny put his head down on his desk, closing his eyes fully.

Lancer sighed, finally catching on. “Those are expensive.”

“Which is also why it’s impressive.” the fourth spoke again, smiling.

“And your name?” he turned to ask the person who, aside from identical clothes as Danny, was very clearly not him. And, in fact, she was most certainly a girl.

“Danielle.” She responded, chiper and already giggling at something Lancer wasn’t privy to. “Or Dani. With an ‘i’.”

“Right. Ms. Danielle, then.” Lancer sighed again. “And what did you do?”

“I gave Mr. Falluca a wig as a gift.” she giggled again. “He didn’t even say thank you.”

Dabbi scoffed. “So ungrateful.”

Mr. Lancer remembered his colleague's troubles with balding and he could understand not being thankful, since he himself was struggling with the same thing. He just wasn’t as unconfident as the man was, since he’d been dealt this bad hand at a young age.

“To be fair it was also a powdered wig.” Danny said, face down on his desk like he was trying to sleep again.

“Ungrateful I tell you! Those are hard to find!” Danielle said, mimicking an angry tone, though she was still laughing.

Mr. Lancer regretted signing up for detention on Friday evenings now more than ever. He could be home reading his new book, enjoying a nice cup of jasmine tea like usual. Instead he was here, dealing with something that he was sure was the work of either a ghost or a realistic hallucination. 

Still, he was not one to give in, especially when it came to his students, even if he wasn’t sure they were really students.

“I’m sure you all...or at least one of you, know how detention works?” He asked, though he wasn’t hopeful for a response other than sarcasm.

Instead of the usual sighing or groaning that would come from his students, he was met with blank stares. Some of them looked at each other confused, aside from Danny, who was most definitely asleep on his desk.

“Incoming.” Niel broke the silence, pausing to finally look up from his phone and nudge Danny awake.

Danny suddenly gasped, lifted his head from his desk, then sighed tiredly. “How close?”

“Close enough that you can’t go back to sleep.” Neil stood up from his desk. “Mr. Lancer I have to go to the bathroom.”

Will recognized this daring glare. It was one that told him that even if he said no, this student was going to leave class anyway. “You may go.”

“I do too.” Danny said, already standing.

“What do you know? Me too.” Dabbi was already halfway out the door.

Damien hardly said a thing before he was tagging alongside Dabbi, whispering something in their ear. Danielle was the last one to go, only smiling one more time at Mr. Lancer before running out the door.

“I’ll keep them company!” she yelled just as the door shut behind her.

William Lancer was a very tired man. With all his students gone until Monday, he had nothing to do but lean down from his desk chair, pull out his still-warm coffee in his silver thermos and take a huge gulp. 

With all that had happened on that day, he tried his best to ignore the battle cries from outside his second-story window and enjoy his coffee.

He wouldn’t know what he would do if anything else weird happened, but he was about to find out. Right when Danny Phantom flew in through his window, followed by several Phantom look-alikes, all shouting something different.

He just set his thermos down on his desk calmly and walked out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas Truce fic for blockswingperry on Tumblr! Hope you enjoyed!


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